Buyer Research

2016 Chrysler 300 — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $12,000–$18,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 13 Chrysler 300 years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

A very different record from the 2012–2014 cars: 76 complaints, one fire, three recalls, and the alternator and rollaway-shifter stories are gone — the 2015 refresh replaced the spring-loaded lever with a rotary dial and the alternator campaigns stop at 2014. What is left is small and specific: door panels that warp in heat until the locks bind, a cruise-control software recall, and on AWD cars a front driveshaft that can unbolt itself. A record this thin is not a reliability rating; it means few people filed, and what they filed spreads across door trim, wiring and one AWD recall rather than pointing at one expensive part. Buy on the strength of the paperwork — recalls closed on the VIN, oil-filter housing and cooling receipts — and walk around it on a hot day looking at the door trim.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 76 owner complaints for the 2016 Chrysler 300, and 3 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is airbags at 20%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

3 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2016 Chrysler 300

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Door panels warp and pull away in heat — locks bind, and owners worry about the side airbagsMedium

The 15 airbag complaints are not airbag failures: 12 of them are owners describing the door trim panels bowing away from the window by an inch or more, cracking at the seams and binding the door locks, filed here because the side airbags live in those panels. It is a well-known LX-platform complaint in hot states and Chrysler declined a recall, so warranty claims were refused. Three of the fifteen are crash reports with no deployment, which we cannot help you inspect for. What you can check: run a finger along the top of each door panel where it meets the glass — a gap or a wave means it has started, and all four doors tend to follow.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$800 per door panel

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (15).

Sudden loss of power and power steering — modules drop off the network, and a fuel-pump threadMedium

15 electrical complaints, with two patterns. The first: every warning light at once, the car losing power at 60 mph and the electro-hydraulic power steering going heavy, diagnosed by dealers as modules losing communication — usually a chafed harness, a corroded ground or a failing body control module, and expensive to chase if nobody finds the wire. The second is the fuel pump: cars that crank and refuse to start, or cut out on the highway, with 'fuel' and 'pump' recurring in what owners wrote. Neither shows on a short test drive, so ask for a scan of stored network codes (U-codes) and listen for the pump's two-second hum with the key on.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$900 for a harness or ground repair; $600–$1,200 for a fuel pump module

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (15).

AWD front driveshaft bolts can loosen and drop the shaft (recall); dial shifter stuck, stalls with a throttle warningHigh — wallet impact

Recall 17V097 covers 2014–2017 AWD cars: the eight front driveshaft bolts can back out and the shaft disconnects, which means a sudden loss of drive. One 2016 owner heard a noise at 65 mph and the dealer found the driveshaft loose. The fix is free — dealers replace all eight bolts — so check the VIN. The rest of the 14 power train complaints are the rotary shifter refusing to respond, a 'shift to park' message appearing while driving followed by a stall and heavy steering, and an 'electronic throttle control' warning with the engine lugging. On the drive, listen for a clunk or growl from under the front on an AWD car, and work the dial through every position twice.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $400–$1,500 for a shifter module or wiring outside it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (14); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Cruise control that may not cancel — powertrain software recallMedium

Recall 18V332 applies to this year: a short circuit in the right place could leave the cruise control holding speed or accelerating when the driver tries to cancel it. The remedy is a free software flash of the engine or powertrain control module. A second campaign on the list, 18E053, is only for aftermarket Mopar performance PCMs and does not apply to a stock 300. Five minutes on the NHTSA VIN lookup tells you whether 18V332 was done.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Body and trim: cracked door panels, water leaks and rattles from the doorsLow

The 10 structure complaints overlap with the door-panel story above — panels cracking where they warp, doors that will not latch cleanly, and a few rattles. On a car this age it is a cosmetic and convenience matter unless the lock binds, but it is a fair bargaining point. Open and close each door from inside and out and listen for the latch to catch on the first try.

Repair cost (estimate): $100–$500

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the body and structure (10).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Door trim gapping away from the window glass or waving along its top edge
✗Door lock that needs a second pull to catch
✗Any warning-light cascade or a momentary power loss on the test drive
✗Growl or clunk from under the front floor on an AWD car
✗Long crank before the engine catches with the key on
✗Cruise-control recall still open on the VIN

Good Signs

✓All three recalls shown complete on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Door panels replaced under a goodwill claim, with the dealer invoice
✓Oil-filter housing replaced with the aluminium aftermarket part, receipt in hand
✓Every module answering on a dealer scan, and a clean network-code report
✓Fuel pump replaced with a dated invoice
✓Firm, quiet ride at 65 mph with the dial worked through every position twice